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The crackdown comes days after graffiti vandal Daniel Montano pleaded guilty to 80 counts of vandalism, prompting a tagging spree in uptown and Lawrenceville.

"I want to see the complete eradication of graffiti, every piece of graffiti in this city," said Pittsburgh Councilman Bruce Kraus.

The bill, sponsored by Kraus, imposes escalating fines based on the damage caused by graffiti vandals. Kraus wants fines of $100 to $500 or more, with the toughest penalties coming for graffiti damage totaling more than $5,000.

"A great majority of them exceed $10,000, $15,00, $20,000," said Dan Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Police Department. "And especially when we have two actors working together under a conspiracy."

Police from the city Graffiti Task Force back a provision that would channel money from fines on graffiti vandals into funding the city's efforts to remove graffiti.

"I believe Graffiti Busters is budgeted at $350,000 a year to clean," said Frank Rende of the Pittsburgh Police Department. "People always say, 'I got my house or my building cleaned for free.' I tell them, 'That's your tax money. You're not getting that for free.'"

If a graffiti vandal is sentenced to community service, the legislation calls for that community service to be removing graffiti from property around Pittsburgh.

"That's the key," said Sullivan. "The sooner you clean up the graffiti, the sooner they know that they're not going to tag in that area because it gets cleaned up too fast.

"I'm absolutely convinced that abatement is the answer," said Kraus. "If the tag doesn't hang, the tagger moves on. That's the bottom line."